Open Your Eyes
by TripGirl05
Summary: Chapter 10: "Face to Face With the Devil" up! (FINALLY! Thanks for being patient!) The conclusion of Open Your Eyes. You'll just have to read it to know. - v
1. Summary and Disclaimer

Trip, T'Pol, Malcolm, and Hoshi find themselves alone on a strange world- each of them separated from each other, and unaware of the others. Something's out of place, but no one can figure out what it is, exactly. And to make things even more strange, they continue to hear an unknown voice, have strange and mysterious dreams, and witness sightings of a person's figure that vanish as soon as they see it. One thing's for sure: they aren't as alone as they thought...  
  
Disclaimer  
  
I do not own Enterprise, Paramount... nothing. Nope. Nothin'. Don't I wish. I'm so far away from anything Enterprise that I might as well live on Vulcan where fun just reigns supreme. So I think you've got it. Oh, yeah, and remember, I'm just doing this for fun. Not money. If that were true, my brother would be trying to get into this. So there. 


	2. Where Am I?

Chapter 1  
  
Where Am I...?  
  
Trip felt his mind seem to stop working. Everything came back all at once in a flash, and then everything went black. He couldn't move, he couldn't think, he couldn't speak. He wanted to wake up, but something was forcing him to stay in the darkness. He wished he could feel scared, but it seemed that fear had been taken away from him...  
  
Suddenly, Trip's eyes snapped open. He quickly got himself up from the hard ground, and looked around. The sky looked as if it were made of only gray clouds, ominous as an oncoming thunderstorm. The ground was sand, and only yards away was the rhythmic crashing of the tide. It was obvious he wasn't on Enterprise anymore.  
  
He didn't remember seeing any planets, not to mention going down on one. He would have remembered that after being cooped up on Enterprise for so long. He walked up next to where the waves fell onto the sand, and watched the ebbing of the dark ocean's tide. He looked to the farthest point of the ocean that he could see, and knew that he already found a barrier, beside the one in his mind that wouldn't allow him to remember where he was and how he got here.  
  
"Where *is* this place?" he whispered aloud to himself. He was about to shout "Hello!" but didn't, remembering that he might not be on a planet with the friendliest people in the universe.  
  
He turned his head to look behind him, and hoped that maybe he might be able to get somewhere... anywhere by going that way. It was all just sand, except for hills in the distance. Maybe someone or something was there? Would he be able to make it there? It was a chance he was willing to take. He didn't go through survival training for nothing.  
  
He started to walk toward the hills, then wondered if he might have brought his communicator. If he couldn't remember taking a shuttlepod to this planet, it could be possible, after all, that he wouldn't remember taking his communicator. He looked through his pockets, and unzipped one of them, feeling a bump in the material. He took it out, but it wasn't his communicator. It was a folded piece of paper. He opened it, and started to read it.  
  
"There is only one Truth,  
  
There is only one Path  
  
Together no longer  
  
You must leave yourself  
  
To find them  
  
To find me"  
  
"What? What the hell's goin' on here?"  
  
All thoughts of coming down on the planet out of his own free will were gone. There was never any shuttlepod, there was no way to communicate with anyone, here or on Enterprise, and there was no way off this planet. Was there anyone else on the surface? Would Enterprise be able to find him? Was he even so sure that there was anything left to Enterprise?  
  
No. There's no way it could be destroyed. It just couldn't be. If it was destroyed, why bring him down?  
  
He imagined a cruel torture, but then brushed that thought away, concluding that if their intentions were to kill him, and if the rest of the crew was already dead, it wouldn't matter so much what they might do if he was really alone. But he was going to continue, assuming they were still waiting for him. Or searching. He needed to think they were still alive, even if it was all a delusion just to keep himself going. And he would. Until the very last breath. Because if everyone was really gone...  
  
He flinched at the very thought, but he forced himself to continue to think it.  
  
Because *if* everyone was really gone, he was determined to make sure they were all remembered when he arrived back on Earth. *If* he arrived back on Earth.  
  
There were too many uncertain variables. Well... He had a lot of time to think, so at least it could kill some of the long hours of walking ahead of him.  
  
He sighed, and made his way toward the hills.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
The light breeze swept through the grass and leaves, creating a rustling, and a somewhat comforting coolness. Feeling the breeze, Malcolm sat up, a little confused to say the least. He felt like a fish that had been taken out of a lake, only to be put into a fishbowl; he was dazed, scared, and displaced.  
  
Automatically his mind turned to the thought that he was a captive, and that whoever brought him here was going to kill him.  
  
He looked around him at his surroundings, the sky a calm blue, and he in the middle of a forest. He could hear strange animal calls, some of which he could hardly imagine coming from something as small as a bird, but nevertheless, this place *was* alien.  
  
He continued to eye the forest, walking silently, but straying no father than five meters from his waking spot, searching for some evidence of a civilization, but he found none. All he saw was grass, trees, and various floras. Studying the plants more closely, he saw that the leaves of one, which looked particularly waxlike, were blue with green outer edges, and dotted with red spots.  
  
"If only the Captain could see this..." he mumbled to himself.  
  
He thought about taking some of the leaves back to Enterprise, but realized that if it were anything like poison sumac, he'd be itching for what would feel like forever. He brought his hand back down, and decided that for the rest of his time here, he wouldn't touch anything but the dirt and grass until he could be sure of anything else.  
  
Hearing a rustle in the bushes to his right, he instinctively brought his hand to his side, ready to pull out his phase pistol, but he felt nothing there.  
  
Bracing himself for the worst, he felt paralyzed by the absence of a weapon. His legs refused to move, his hand devoid of the cold metal gun.  
  
The twitching bushes failed to emit a possible enemy, though the shaking continued. It was getting closer, whatever it was.  
  
//Run, damn it, don't just stand there waiting to be killed!// Reed's brain screamed at him.  
  
He complied, and ran off to his left. He wished he could have at least determined if it was a threat before dashing away, but he was unarmed, and unprepared to engage in combat if what was about to emerge was in fact hostile.  
  
//A tactical officer...?// his mind jeered. He mentally scolded himself, cursing, and resolving that he should have been stationed in the kitchen, not the armory with the amount of courage he had.  
  
After he felt he had ran enough, he looked back for the first time, and saw nothing. But he was still in the forest. And whatever it was, it could still be following.  
  
He hoped it had lost interest in him, or had never even seen him to begin with. He eventually caught his breath, and looked around him once more. He needed to find a way to seclude himself, and to get out of the forest, but he had no scanners, no map, not even a phase pistol.  
  
Awkwardly, though, the daylight that just minutes ago made the sky a bright blue was now fading, which meant either walking through the night, or staying here.  
  
After a moment's thought, he said, "Forest it is, then."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi sat huddled against the dirt slope of a hill, holding her legs to her chest. Every time she exhaled, she could see her breath, and she was shaking terribly from the cold. She knew she would have to keep moving to stay warm, but her legs felt as though they were starting to become numb and wouldn't be able to carry her one inch. She realized that was reason to walk, and she didn't know how long she would stay this cold, or if the temperature would drop even more. But she had no will to move.  
  
It was dark, and she was alone and scared. But she knew she had to keep moving, she had been telling herself to do so for... she didn't even know how long. And how long had she been here? Why would she be by herself?  
  
She struggled to stand up, shivering so badly she could barely hold herself straight. The last place she was before Enterprise was Brazil, and the weather there was nothing like this. Whatever the temperature was here, though, it couldn't have been freezing because she saw no snow, except for some about a kilometer above her on the mountains.  
  
So she just folded her arms across her chest, and walked. She walked down the hill where she was getting lower in elevation, and closer to warmth.  
  
She looked around her as she walked, seeing nothing but the land, and fear washing over her. She hated being alone. Sitting by herself was different. It was like sitting in her own bedroom; she knew she was going to be alone because she wasn't going anywhere. Now, she was walking by herself, without the comfort of another person, vulnerable to anyone who lived on this planet.  
  
She really hoped there wasn't anyone on this planet.  
  
Just then, another wind whipped at her, and she had to stop to force her knees not to buckle underneath her. She knew that it couldn't be good to be this cold.  
  
"Captain?" she called out, desperate to have one of the crew with her. "Sub-Commander? Commander? Anyone?!"  
  
As she expected, though not as hoped, her only answer was the low whispering of the wind around the mountains that carried down to her.  
  
"I thought so," she muttered sadly to herself, and continued to walk.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
T'Pol sat herself up on the red earth. She tried to remember how she got there, but she couldn't remember anything. Had she come down in a shuttlepod, and it crashed? Not that she could recall. And she wouldn't have gone through the transporter.  
  
She looked around her. It looked like a desert, with only a few shrubs scattered here and there amongst the clay.  
  
Raising an eyebrow, she thought to herself, //Perhaps they've taken me back to Vulcan?//  
  
Realizing that she wouldn't have been sitting on the ground, and noticing the slight color difference of the ground and the shrubs that looked much different than the ones on Vulcan- or on Earth- she concluded that she was somewhere else. Besides, the sky was blue. It was a dark blue, unlike Earth, and very unlike Vulcan.  
  
She mentally scolded herself for even briefly believing she was back on Vulcan. But, she supposed there were many possibilities, including amnesia. She easily remembered her crewmates on Enterprise, and her time aboard Enterprise, though she found that recent events were lost in her memory.  
  
She couldn't remember this planet, any ships they may have encountered, or any alien species for that matter. She closed her eyes to try to focus on the facts, but despite her attempts to surface any knowledge of this place, she remembered nothing.  
  
She realized that in order to successfully return to Enterprise, she must first search for signs of where she was. She felt compelled to walk around, but she stayed within twenty-five meters of where she woke up.  
  
She was surrounded by clay; the only plants scattered every few meters, though as she walked, she saw in the distance a slight mound. It was hardly visible from where she stood. She looked back at where she sat earlier, then realized that staying there would be of no help, being in the open where she could not sustain herself for very long. While her biosign would be much easier to isolate, it would be of no use if she was away from all resources.  
  
She approached the mound, but as she got closer, she realized that it was not just a simple raise in the earth. It was a cave- no. It wasn't. Walking cautiously, she came around to the front where she could see the opening much better. It was a structure similar to adobe huts, although it was completely constructed of the clay. And it was definitely man-made.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Please review! I want to know what you all think about it so far. ^_^  
Hopefully good things! 


	3. Lost in a Mystery

I am SO sorry for the delay for this chapter. Thanks to several school  
projects at once, I had to postpone everything else- which painfully included all writing projects. But I'm finally able to start up again, as of today! I feel so deprived of feedback, so PLEASE, remember to review.  
^_^ Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Lost in a Mystery  
  
T'Pol glanced inside the structure, studying it carefully. It was, in fact, a hut, made by a people, evident not only by its construction, but also by the small blanket on the ground and the large hole in the roof that must have let out smoke from a fire. She entered hesitantly, wondering if she should take the risk of invading a family's home.  
  
She brushed her fingers along the inside wall, and the clay crumbled and flaked off under her touch. This hut was definitely not home to anyone anymore. She let her hand fall from the clay, not wanting to further damage something so ancient. She was struck by how resourceful the species that built this structure was to have lived in such harsh conditions, and to have used the earth to their advantage.  
  
Such a structure would suggest a civilization, but she had seen no others like it nearby. Could they have possibly formed a civilization in recluse? T'Pol shook her head, trying to focus on the matter at hand. She needed to find a way off this planet, not study early civilizations.  
  
She was about to leave when her eye caught discoloration on the wall behind her. She turned back, and looked closely, adjusting her eyes to the dark inside of the hut. The discoloration was actually faded markings. The walls were covered in them. A few groups were pictures and the rest were various symbols, but they seemed extremely organized, unlike how randomly written they looked; it were as though one stray mark might create an entirely new word, an entirely new idea. She had to admit to herself that it was impressive.  
  
She wondered if Hoshi would be able to read it, or if she was on this planet too. For now, though, she was just going to make this her temporary home until she could leave when the sun went down and the temperature would drop to a more tolerable level.  
  
She sat down on the sand-covered rug, trying to meditate, but she couldn't. Something was... odd. Her mind wouldn't clear. She could focus correctly, but only for a few seconds. And when she did manage to focus, she couldn't feel anything around her; she felt like the entire world was falling away from her. She decided not to meditate any longer, slightly shaken from her attempts, and instead looked at the symbols on the walls. She couldn't help wondering what happened to whoever wrote them.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi felt like her legs were going numb, but nevertheless, she continued to walk, knowing that, eventually, she would reach somewhere warmer. But the sky was getting dark now, and she knew she couldn't keep walking all night. She had to find somewhere to stay. As if her thoughts were being answered, she finally was able to see some trees in the distance.  
  
"Thank you," she said out loud in relief, knowing she could now have fire.  
  
After several minutes of trying to create sparks to light a bunch of stray sticks and dry grass, she finally sat next to a warm fire. She was so tired, she had no second thought to lying down on the ground to sleep.  
  
She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and wake up to find herself back in her quarters on Enterprise, this whole place nothing more than a bad dream, but she was still on the alien earth, next to the crackle of the burning flame.  
  
She looked up into the sky, wondering if maybe Enterprise was in orbit, or if anyone would ever find her down there. She sighed, trying to ease her fear of being abandoned forever by losing herself in the blaze of the fire before her, though it hardly made any improvement in suppressing that fear.  
  
She finally was able to begin to drift off to sleep, but that didn't last very long. Suddenly, a noise from the dark made her eyes open. She waited for a minute, hoping it would be some small, harmless animal that wouldn't want to eat or kill her. She held her breath, waiting for the shuffling sound to stop. She partly wanted to be able to see what was coming, and partly wanted not to, but whatever it was, it was coming toward her. She could feel the fear consuming her, and she couldn't help letting out a small whimper as the shadowy figure emerged from the darkness and began to come into the light.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Malcolm let his eyes slowly open, only to find himself standing in the armory on Enterprise.  
  
//How did I get back here?// he thought. He wondered if he'd ever left, but when he looked around him, he was completely alone. Something had to be wrong. He walked around the armory, wondering if he ever really was on that planet, or if it was all just a dream. Or if *Enterprise* was all just a dream.  
  
"But who's to say what is and what isn't a dream?" asked a voice behind him.  
  
He turned around sharply to see a young girl with golden hair and bright green eyes watching him. She looked human, but how she got there was a mystery to him.  
  
"Who are you? How did you get onboard?" he asked her.  
  
"I cannot tell you, Malcolm. Although maybe soon *you* will be able to tell *me*."  
  
He gave her a confused glare, but she just stood there and waited, her head slightly tilted to one side. His first instinct to interrogate her and get a tactical team to the armory to guard the potential threat faded as he watched her. All questions of how she arrived onboard gradually dissipated from his mind, leaving him only with the questions that plagued him the most.  
  
"How do you know my name?"  
  
She just smiled. "I know a lot about you."  
  
He paused, wondering if she would answer his question, but then gave up on that idea. "I'm on Enterprise?"  
  
"Yes and no."  
  
Something made him believe she would know the answer to his next question. "Was I ever on that planet?"  
  
"Yes and no." So she *did* know.  
  
"Am I really here or not?" he asked, getting frustrated with her avoiding his questions.  
  
"Yes and n-"  
  
"I know, 'yes and no,'" he said forcefully.  
  
She was unfazed by his interruption. Instead, she told him, "The questions you ask yield the answers I give."  
  
"Stop answering me in riddles," he said, getting angry with this girl, and this mystery in general. "I just want straight answers."  
  
"I'm afraid that isn't possible." She looked at him in thought, then began to walk closer to him, studying the ship around her, studying Malcolm.  
  
He watched her cautiously. The questions about this strange girl then resurfaced in his mind once more. "What do you want? Why are you here?" he asked, trying to add force to his tone of voice.  
  
"I need you to help me, Malcolm."  
  
"Help you with what?" he asked, confused, but still trying not to let his guard down, not to lose his tone of voice, though it was slightly wavering.  
  
"I'm lost. And so are you. However, we both know exactly where we are. Though, unlike you, I cannot find myself, I cannot be found. But *you* can find me."  
  
"You aren't making any sense..."  
  
"If you lose yourself, you can find me."  
  
"Wh... But...?"  
  
"I trust that you will soon understand." She smiled weakly. "I know I will see you again. And so will they."  
  
"Enterprise?"  
  
She closed her eyes and Malcolm felt as if he was drifting away, like he was falling. And for the first time in a very long time he was actually afraid: afraid of where he was falling to, afraid of the uncertain and the unknown, afraid of his future, afraid of it all.  
  
Malcolm gasped as his eyes snapped open. He was still in the middle of the forest on the planet, as lost as before. Being back on Enterprise was just a dream. That girl was just his imagination. All of it was. But it had to mean something, or be something... something important.  
  
Malcolm had to laugh at himself. He was getting frightened of a dream. He'd never been one to analyze his dreams, or think they were meaningful in any way, but he needed to find some sort of key to finding how he ever came to this planet, and maybe the answer lay in his subconscious. If that was true, who was that girl? What was she doing on Enterprise? Whom or what did she represent in this whole mystery? He knew nothing about symbolism in his own dreams, but he was willing to try to learn if it meant he would find out how to get back to Enterprise.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
As Trip walked, his mind went over that note, again and again, until he thought he would go insane. How did it get there- and more importantly, who put it there? He had so many questions going through his mind, it was hard for him to focus on anything. He couldn't help but not be able to focus on anything, though at the same time, he was worried about everything.  
  
He could feel himself drifting away, as if he was losing himself in the vastness of the world he was on. He stopped, becoming afraid of what was happening. He felt the entire place blur before him, and his fear was the only thing that brought him back to full awareness. What *was* that?  
  
He stopped then, hearing a sound. It was distant and quiet, but he turned in all directions, trying to find where it was coming from. He saw nothing, yet the whispering continued.  
  
"Who's there?" he asked aloud.  
  
There was no response, yet the same murmur continued. It seemed to have gotten louder, as if it were being carried to him on the breeze that now passed over the land, but he still couldn't make out what it was. He strained his ears to pick up what it was, and finally, he made out part of it, and what he heard unsettled him.  
  
"...alone..."  
  
The voice sent chills through him and froze him.  
  
"Who is it? Hoshi?" he asked, though he knew it was not Hoshi.  
  
"...alone..." the voice said again, coming from everywhere and surrounding him.  
  
He knew that no matter where he ran to, he couldn't escape. He felt like he was being held in place, unable to move, and terrified to only be able to stand and wait to be found. He had nowhere to go, no way to get away from whomever or whatever the voice belonged to. It was everywhere, and it scared him much more than he was before that what he was afraid of couldn't be seen.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Okay, so did you like it? I hope so. Just a reminder to review- please remember to do so. All feedback is welcome, except for flames. All flames  
will be added to Hoshi's little campfire to keep her warm. 


	4. Closer to the Truth

^_^ A new chapter! Yay! Hope you like it.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Closer to the Truth  
  
The voice surrounded him still, tormenting him. He just wanted it to go away, for it to stop from repeating that same chilling word. He closed his eyes and covered his ears, hoping to try to drown out the eerie chanting that echoed around him.  
  
Suddenly, the voice stopped. He gradually took his hands away from his ears and opened his eyes, slowly looking up from the ground beneath him to see a girl in front of him. Her hair was golden yellow, and her eyes were a brilliant green, but her entire body was hardly more than a ghost. Trip could hardly do more than stare. Her misty figure entranced him, made him doubt his sanity. But just her presence alone made him forget the anguish she caused only moments earlier. It was in her gaze... in her bright green eyes- a trust that he couldn't exactly explain.  
  
A smile crept over her lips. "Trip..." she uttered, her voice hardly more than a whisper.  
  
"Who *are* you?" he asked her, still a little shaken from what had just happened, and of what he was seeing.  
  
Instead of answering, her smile just widened.  
  
He watched her for a second, not sure what to think, or what to believe. He wondered what species she was, since she was little more than mist, or if she was just a hallucination after all.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Your help," she said pitifully, as if just speaking were an effort.  
  
"How would *I* be able t' help you?"  
  
"All of you need to help me," she said, as though she hadn't heard him at all.  
  
"'All of us'? Who else is here? Where are they?" he asked, eagerness raising his voice and testing his patience when he seemed so close to having his questions answered.  
  
Again, she smiled. "They are all around you if you'd only open your eyes."  
  
"What?"  
  
"If you'd only open your eyes, you'd see you aren't alone, Trip."  
  
He saw her figure flicker, and he was sure she was about to disappear on him, so he intervened. "Wait! At least tell me how t' find 'em! Please!" he cried desperately.  
  
For a second, he could see pity in her eyes. She could have left him, but she did not. "If you only knew how much more lost I am than you," she said weakly.  
  
She appeared to gather her strength for a moment as she stood, wavering slightly, but standing nonetheless with as much poise she could muster. "Tell me to where you've been so drawn to since you began walking."  
  
Trip shook his head. "I don't know- I... I never really was goin' anywhere, I just started walkin' in the only direction I could go!"  
  
"That isn't true."  
  
He could then remember everything that had happened when he first woke up- the note in his pocket, the crash of the ocean tide beside him, and deciding to go to the hills off in the distance. But was he ever really drawn to the hills that still seemed so far away?  
  
She could see the look of understanding on his face, and nodded. She gave him a wan smile. "I know you will be able to help me. I hold my trust in you. Goodbye..." And she vanished.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Malcolm looked up from the ground of the thick bramble of the forest. He had spent one night sleeping on the ground after a long day of wandering aimlessly, but it seemed like no matter which direction he went, he only would drift further and further into the blanket of the surrounding trees.  
  
The dream he had only minutes earlier tormented him now as he lay there, unsure what to do. Everything was uncertain, and he wished everything would finally become clear. Every breeze became the whispers from the land, every rustle of the brush became a lurking predator... he was becoming to aware and too paranoid.  
  
He picked himself up off the ground, deciding he was going to walk to wherever the direction he was going would take him.  
  
Suddenly, he heard the cracking of twigs from the trees behind him and he froze.  
  
//Damn, not again,// he thought in worry that what he had heard chasing him before had caught up to him.  
  
There was the sound of more twigs snapping, and he stood frozen for a moment, his eyes fixed on the shifting thicket, praying that it was someone from Enterprise. But that hope was shattered when he heard a low and vicious growling from that same area.  
  
His feet didn't need a cue to run this time, and he took off, despite the disapproval that echoed through his thoughts at his act of cowardice.  
  
When he stopped, gasping for air, he looked behind him to see if the creature was gone. It was, and this time, he was even more angry at himself for running away than the previous time. He tried to reason with himself that he was defenseless, and simply standing there would have made him easy prey.  
  
He still felt he was a disappointment, and he began to drown in his own reprimands. He sat down on a large rock, staring off into nowhere, his frustration at his failure consuming him, and turning into gloom that left him sinking into a dismal world. He had always been a disappointment, and he had just proven it to himself that his father was right after all.  
  
A cool breeze blew over him and brought him back to reality, as if that were its intention.  
  
That was when the thought crossed his mind that he was truly alone, and Malcolm being left alone had never proved to be a good idea.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi let out her breath when she saw, instead of the large beast she expected, a small, catlike animal. It was mostly white with light purple at the ends of its long ears, legs, and tail. Its eyes were a piercing mix of green and blue, and its fur was thick, guarding it against the chill of the land.  
  
When it opened its mouth, she almost expected it to meow. Instead, a pitiful squeak escaped it, and she finally noticed as it came closer to the light that blue blood stained the fur on its side.  
  
"Oh... you're hurt..."  
  
The animal shrank back when it heard her speak, and even more when she reached out to it. It studied her a moment, and she sat still, and when the animal finally trusted her, it came over.  
  
She looked at its injury, hoping she could help, but still not quite sure what to do. She had never exactly been taught how to treat an animal. She watched it lie down next to the fire, curling its fluffy tail around its body.  
  
"And I thought you were going to eat me," she told it.  
  
It looked up at her and squeaked again before turning back to the fire to sleep.  
  
She smiled. It was actually pretty cute... whatever it was.  
  
She was going to start walking when the sun came up, but she decided she was going to stay and treat its wound, protect it for a little while until it could fend for itself once again. She would wait until it was completely asleep before dressing the cut.  
  
//At least I have someone to keep me company now,// she thought.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
T'Pol was beginning to become aggravated, as much as she wouldn't have admitted it to anyone. She convinced herself it was because she was unable to meditate, and because she had been sitting alone for several hours, waiting for a rescue that would most likely never happen.  
  
She laid herself down on the rug, closing her eyes and letting sleep take her. She was reluctant to sleep, wondering if her sleep would involve dreams since she hadn't meditated, and wondering if those dreams would be nightmares. She fell into a deep sleep anyway.  
  
Just when the world seemed to drift away, she heard a young voice say, "T'Pol."  
  
Her eyes flickered, but did not open.  
  
"T'Pol, you must see the truth. You must realize I am here with you. You only have to open your eyes, open your mind to find me."  
  
"I am alone," she mumbled in her sleep.  
  
"No. If you do not see that soon, you will be in danger. I do not wish to place you in danger, but you are my only hope of escaping."  
  
"Escaping?"  
  
The voice began to fade, as if the person was becoming weak. "I am being held captive. If you don't help me soon, he will find me before you do, and kill me. And if he does... I'm afraid you will die as well."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Yeah, I know it was a little weird, but it'll make sense soon enough. It's  
a mystery, you have to be confused! ^_^ Okay, so tell me what you  
thought. 


	5. Intruder

Sorry, sorry, sorry that it took so long! Too much crappy homework, and I  
was already preoccupied with getting up new chapters for "Picture  
Imperfect."  
  
So here's the next installment to THIS story...  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Intruder  
  
"That is impossible," T'Pol muttered. "I am secluded here. There is no one else-"  
  
"T'Pol- please listen to me," the person interrupted anxiously. "I am running, but you cannot. He *will* find you, it is only a matter of whether or not you are prepared to resist him."  
  
T'Pol's eyes fluttered, but she stayed sleeping. "If I am to assume that somehow this situation *is* actually taking place, who is this man that you run from?"  
  
There was silence for a moment, but soon after, an answer. "I don't quite know. But T'Pol- I need you to know to be prepared for him. You need to keep your mind strong... focused. You must first defend yourself before you can save me."  
  
"The Vulcan mind is extremely disciplined, and..."  
  
Her voice trailed off.  
  
"Your mind has become weaker now, T'Pol. Your inability to meditate has caused you frustration, anger."  
  
"I am incapable of such-"  
  
"You know that isn't true," she interrupted. "You may bury them beneath years of control and knowledge, but they are there. I have seen your emotions, your fears. And, no doubt, so has he."  
  
Suddenly T'Pol felt strange thoughts pass through her mind, and her eyes snapped open, the voice vanishing with the security of the darkness.  
  
She had felt something with her. Something or someone had entered her mind briefly, she knew it. She had connected with its thoughts briefly, and what she felt was horrific.  
  
She took a moment to determine whether or not she really believed what she felt was real, and in the end, she decided that the anger and hate, and the pure madness that emanated from these thoughts could not possibly be her own.  
  
This "man" that she was recently aware of... he was determined to kill her. She now knew that for sure. But she also knew that this being wanted to kill more than just herself; he wanted to kill three other humans: Trip, Malcolm, and Hoshi.  
  
At first, she was surprised to know that they were with her, wherever she was, but they were there, and they were in danger. They were the only things standing between this person and the girl that had just spoken with her.  
  
What was extremely frightening... He knew where each of them was, where each of them was going, and what he could do to every one of them to manifest himself from their fears into their reality and kill them.  
  
She needed to find them, to save her crew from the danger of this telepath. She needed no further reasoning; she exited the hut in search of her crew mates.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi awoke to the rising of the sun, the bright light peeking through the nearly bare branches of the trees.  
  
A tiny squeak came from next to her, and she turned her head to see the animal almost right next to her. It had obviously begun to feel more comfortable being with her, and was beginning to look healthier as well. It was now standing up with much sturdier footing, and walking without as bad of a limp.  
  
"Are you coming with me?" Hoshi asked it playfully.  
  
It squeaked, as though in response, knowing Hoshi was addressing it.  
  
She laughed and stood up, ready to continue on her travel to the base of the mountain. She began to walk, and the little catlike creature ambled in stride with her by her feet.  
  
Hoshi thought a moment to herself, then spoke aloud. "Do you want a name?" she asked it. She thought a moment of what to name it, but her eyes suddenly caught sight of something on the grass near the trees, and walked closer to see what it was. It was dark, staining the grass beneath her feet.  
  
It was blood. But what scared her was that it wasn't blue like the animal's, it was red. Like a human's.  
  
She froze up with fear at the sight of it, unsure what exactly to do about it. She walked silently into the white trees, hoping to find her answer there, where the blood seemed to have come from, but still terrified by what she might find. She didn't know why exactly she was so drawn there, but she supposed that if it really *was* a human's blood, it would be that of one of the crew. And if she was ever to be rescued... or found... she needed to find her crew.  
  
As she stepped into the trees, they seemed to bend in, to close around her, to take her in..  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Malcolm stayed seated on that rock, for what amount of time he had no idea. He didn't know what to do.  
  
"Something is very wrong here," he said outloud to himself. "I don't know what the hell's going on here, but all I want is an explanation."  
  
He didn't expect an answer, though he couldn't help sulking when all he heard was the far-off calls of animals.  
  
"The sound of silence," he mumbled outloud.  
  
But out of nowhere, he received his response. One that chilled his bones.  
  
A bitter wind blew, which seemed to steal his breath right out of his lungs. Malcolm stood up, gasping for air that did not come, until finally, when he thought he was about to asphyxiate, the air rushed back to him.  
  
The air swirled around in front of him, becoming a pale mist, whipping at the rest of the air so fast as it spun that it whistled. Malcolm was almost thrown back as the mist condensed and became a ghost- like figure, transparent and shaped as a humanoid, however, with very few qualities that distinguished it as such. Malcolm stared in absolute horror at this thing, this thing that had nearly suffocated him.  
  
It held out its wispy hand for Malcolm to reach, but Malcolm didn't advance closer- he instead stumbled back in fear.  
  
The being lowered its arm, and Malcolm could almost see traces of an evil grin on its face. Slowly, it opened its eyelids to reveal red, glowing eyes that seemed to stare into his soul, stealing away his darkest fears and happiest dreams, pulling from him all of it.  
  
"Leave!" Malcolm told it. "I don't know what you want, but I don't have anything!"  
  
"Malcolm," a whisper-like echoing voice called to him from the ghost. "All that is here may seem false... but here... everything is true until you believe it false. Do not so quickly dismiss what you don't understand."  
  
And just as it vanished, he was sure he saw a flash of his father in the mist.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Trip continued his walk to the hills, unsure of what could possibly be there. The girl had told him that there were others, and that they were all around him- maybe they were there?  
  
He smiled at the thought of returning to Enterprise, at the thought of seeing the rest of the crew again, and tried to keep his hopes up rather than consider himself gone for good just yet.  
  
"Besides," he said outloud to himself jokingly, "with me gone, who *else* is gonna sneak Porthos cheese when the Cap'n tells 'im no?"  
  
His smile faded, however, when he saw on the ground in front of him a large piece of torn and bloodied material, and on it, an almost completely torn off patch that said, "Starship Enterprise... NX-01."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Phew! The chapter just kind of sets up the chapters to come, just gets  
everyone to the same point, more or less, so I hope it's okay.  
  
Okies... you might not like this, but there's a good chance you won't see  
the next piece of this story until summertime thanks to finals and projects. Fun, fun. (Ick.) So feel free to blame my school, because I do  
all the time!  
  
So be nice and review! You wouldn't have read to this far if you weren't  
at all interested! ^ - ^ 


	6. The Fear That Burns Within

Guess what? It's summer!!!! ^ - ^ And that means more chapters more  
often!!! Ah. summer is good.  
  
Oh- and just so everyone knows, I went a little crazy with all the "#-  
$%@*^" buttons..  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^* separates POVs, and ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ separates times in  
Malcolm's memory.  
  
Enjoy! ^ - ^  
  
Chapter 5  
  
The Fear That Burns Within  
  
Trip stared in disbelief at the fabric, unable to believe that one of his crew was....  
  
His eyes caught sight of another piece only a few meters away from the first, a trail of blood leading to it. It was like something out of a gruesome nightmare. And as he approached the second piece of the uniform, it had become even worse than he imagined.  
  
It was the captain's uniform, tattered and blood-stained, as if he had been attacked by a savage beast that had ripped at him with its claws. He dropped to his knees in front of it.  
  
His best friend, his captain, was undoubtedly dead. Most likely along with anyone else with him- which would have been Malcolm and Hoshi, if not also T'Pol and another crewman.  
  
He shook his head, trying not to look at the uniform, but his attempts were in vain. He couldn't break his gaze.  
  
But then his thoughts shifted from mourning to uncontrollable anger and hatred.  
  
"Is *this* why you told me t' come here?" he accused, his voice wavering as he fought back tears and fought to control his temper. "T' show me that you killed my captain?! T' show me that it's hopeless t' think I'm gonna get outta here?!"  
  
He stood up, looking around him, then threw his arms up in defeat. "Then fine! I give up! Take me too! If yer gonna murder the whole crew, why don't you get rid a' *me*?!"  
  
There was no response, only a small breeze that passed over the plains.  
  
"I said take me too!!!!" he shouted, releasing all his anger out at the nothingness that surrounded him. "You murderer!!!!" he screamed before the tears finally began to flow down his face.  
  
His last shred of hope had just been torn from him, and he felt like there was no reason at all to continue. He had no will to move on, no will to live. He was completely trapped on this planet, at the mercy of the person or people behind all this.  
  
He simply sat back down on the ground and told his tormentor, every word cold as ice and full of ire, "I'll be right here when yer ready."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Malcolm walked aimlessly through the forest, trying to prove to himself that he was hallucinating, and that he had not seen that ghastly figure or his father. Yet, the sad irony was, that was *all* he thought about.  
  
In many ways, he feared his father more than he did this planet. Not even the threat of the planet, of the possibility that he would die before he even contacted Enterprise, could come close to the fear thirty-one years of talking with his father had instilled in him. He was so harsh, and his words so hateful and angry that they never left his head. They just stayed there, a constant reminder of how much of a disappointment he was, and had always been.  
  
Stuart Reed didn't just treat *him* that way- there wasn't a person on Earth he wouldn't scowl at. And if he met all the people in the universe, Malcolm was sure he would do the same to each one of them as well. It was just that Malcolm was somehow different; he almost had a hatred for Malcolm.  
  
Malcolm's solemn look returned to his features, and his eyes focused on a distant point, far beyond the forest around him. The memories were returning to haunt him again.  
  
{{The boys walked alongside Malcolm on the path, throwing sticks and rocks into the trees as they went. The moon was the only light to illuminate the area: a very dreary woodland, made of little more than that rocky, unpaved path surrounded by marsh and thick trees. It was so peaceful in the moonlight, with only the noise of the boys themselves to disrupt the sounds of nature.  
  
"There's absolutely *nothing* to do," one of the boys complained. "Someone *please* think of something!"  
  
Everyone shrugged, looking from one to the other to try to come up with an idea, but no one had one. One boy, instead of joining the conversation, simply busied himself by making patterns with the light of his flashlight on the ground in front of him.  
  
"Look!" one of them said suddenly, pointing upward toward an unlit, ghastly brick building in the distance, moss growing over almost the entire thing. There were two other identical buildings nearby, jutting up out of the ground like stalagmites. "Why not go in there?"  
  
A few of them just exchanged unsure glances, and one of them looked right at the boy and told him, "You can't be serious."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It was a bloody insane asylum! You better not be expecting *me* to go in there!"  
  
He sighed. "It's not like it's one anymore. What? Are you afraid?"  
  
"I'm afraid of getting caught!"  
  
All of them looked at one another, each person trying to find someone else that would admit to being too afraid so he could go home. No one admitted their fear, and so they all began to walk to the building.  
  
Malcolm stayed toward the back of the group, not speaking, going over in his mind what he should do. On one hand, if he left for home, he would be a coward, and on the other hand, if he went, and got caught, he would have to face his father. His father would *never* allow him to do anything like this, and he would be sure to make Malcolm never want to do it again.  
  
He decided as he reached the steps of the abandoned asylum that he would rather take a chance of being caught and take his father's punishment like a man than be labled a coward. That was the *last* thing he wanted.  
  
He turned on his flashlight, and the light shone through the dust in the air, cutting through the darkness and shining against the white walls tinted gray from age and neglect. The rest of the boys did the same, each clicking on their lights, and no one said a word. Malcolm could tell that everyone was terrified of the place, afraid to even *breathe* loudly.  
  
"Tyler," Malcolm whispered to a particularly nervous red-haired boy next to him. "Come on. Want to go downstairs?"  
  
The boy gripped his flashlight tighter, then nodded, following Malcolm to the stairs.  
  
As they decended to the basement, alone, Tyler finally began to talk. "I heard there's tunnels under this building. Are there?"  
  
Malcolm nodded. "I'm pretty sure they connect the three buildings."  
  
"Hm." Tyler held the flashlight with an even firmer grip. "I don't really want to know what they're used for...."  
  
Malcolm immediately assumed something awful like taking dead bodies down there, but shook his head and continued.  
  
They reached the basement, which was covered in dust and cobwebs that hung and draped like curtains from almost every corner. Malcolm walked around the room, trying to avoid touching anything, but eventually, he came across a door, and opened it. As he thought, it was the door to the tunnels.  
  
"Tyler. Over here."  
  
Tyler peered over Malcolm's shoulder down to the tunnels below. "You think it's safe down there?"  
  
Malcolm shined his flashlight down into the pitch-black corridors. "It's not even safe up here..." he mumbled, more to himself than to Tyler. "Let's go."  
  
Malcolm led with Tyler close behind, both their flashlights pointed into the darkness in front of them. The tunnels were so long that the light didn't reach the other end.  
  
Suddenly, a noise came from the other end of the tunnel, like a crash almost, and Tyler darted for the stairs. Malcolm tried to stop him from leaving him all by himself, but he was gone. For some reason, Malcolm resisted the urge to run.  
  
//You can't run away from everything. You have to *face* what scares you. Don't ever forget that, boy.//  
  
Malcolm took in a deep breath, then, holding it, made his way slowly toward where the noise came from. He couldn't be afraid of something he hadn't even seen. The light from the flashlight in his hand scanned the tunnel in front of him, but found nothing.  
  
He stopped then, coming to an odd fork. The tunnel branched into two more tunnels, and he had to choose one. From the midpoint, they were so evenly split, if you wandered them enough, you wouldn't be able to tell the tunnels apart, or where you came from for that matter. He chose the right fork, trying to ignore his newest fear, then continued on.  
  
Another sharp crash sounded, much closer this time, and Malcolm gasped, turning to run, but throwing the flashlight from his hand in the process. It smashed against the wall, and everything went black.  
  
His heart racing, he needed to get back, but without the light, he was even more disoriented than when he started. He just ran away from the noise; as long as he was going in the opposite direction, he would be fine.  
  
That was... until he reached the fork. He felt the walls, hoping in vain to find some sort of clue as to where he was going, but it was useless. In his panic, he couldn't remember where he had gone to, or which direction to take, so he turned right, and ran off in that direction.  
  
Everything was so dark, he had no idea where he was going, and there was no light at the end of *this* tunnel to guide him.  
  
"Please," he begged breathlessly as he ran, "please let me get back...."  
  
Once again he found himself at a fork. But there was only one fork in the tunnel where he entered. He was truly lost, and he had no idea how deep he had gone into the maze.  
  
He let himself sink to the ground, tears forming in his eyes.  
  
"Why the hell did I come down here?" he asked outloud to himself. "What if they don't find me?" Then, the thought crossed his mind. "Or what if they *do*? I'll get such a beating, I just know I will.... So stupid...."  
  
He forced himself to pull together, then shouted, "Can anyone hear me?! Help!"  
  
He waited, then shouted again, but heard nothing. He waited a few minutes, shouting a couple more times, then gave up. He brought his knees up against his chest, crossed his arms over them, and rested his head on top. It was useless. He was alone. So he might as well get some sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When Malcolm woke up, he was lying down on the couch in his living room with a blanket over him. At first he didn't know how he got back, or why he woke up, but then, he heard the sound of his father's voice.  
  
"Where?!?!" his father asked, nearly shouting.  
  
"Sh, Stuart, he's sleeping," he heard his mother tell him, which reminded him to close his eyes, and pretend he was still doing just that.  
  
"In the tunnels under the old Wells Assylum. I caught his friends coming out of there, and one of 'em was panicked, telling me there was still another boy down in the tunnels and he hadn't come out yet."  
  
"Thank you for finding him," his mother said, teary-eyed.  
  
"Hm." He paused. "When he wakes up, tell him that since he only did this once, he's just getting off with a warning. But if he does it again...."  
  
"I'll be sure to tell him, officer," Malcolm's father assured the man.  
  
Malcolm decided he would rather deal with the law than with his own father. But there was nothing he could do about it now.  
  
He heard the door close, and the fear set in.  
  
"That boy..." his father growled, fuming with anger.  
  
"Stuart, he's only twelve years old. He wanted to explore, he just didn't know he shouldn't."  
  
"He bloody well did!"  
  
"Please, just let him sleep.... Wait until morning...."  
  
"No."  
  
Malcolm's eyes shut even tighter together as he heard his father coming toward him, telling him to wake up. Malcolm quickly got up off the couch, standing up straight and waiting for his punishment.  
  
His father stood right in front of him, staring down at him, waiting for Malcolm's eyes to look up into his. When they finally did, he spoke. "I've told you several times not to go into those buildings. And where do they find you? In the tunnels!" He then spoke in a low snarl, "Don't you expect to go *anywhere* any time soon, boy."  
  
"Yes, sir," Malcolm answered, straight-faced, and still holding his stature, even though inside, the fear consumed him. And he knew that was not the extent of his punishment. That was only the beginning.  
  
His cold eyes glared down at Malcolm, waiting for him to shake, waiting to feel his fear come through his expressionless face, but it didn't happen. Malcolm had been through this same punishment far too many times to be uncooperative anymore. He knew that acting that way would only make things worse. "Follow me."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Malcolm knew where they were going. He knew why. But he wasn't going to cry, and he wasn't going to apologize- he was just going to take it. He had learned to just take it. It was probably going to be worse than the last time, he knew, because of what he had done, and because he should have known better.  
  
When they reached Malcolm's room, he turned around to take one last look at his father. He knew he couldn't look at him afterward; his eyes would be full of tears. He did take that one last look, and saw the belt in his father's hands. He started to tremble, but stopped himself. He took a deep breath, held it, braced himself, and waited for the sting of the leather to strike him.}}  
  
Malcolm looked down at the ground, trying to get away from the memory, but at the same time, knowing he could never escape it. He knew he still had the scars on his back, not just from that one time, but from the many others as well.  
  
It was the one thing he could never run from.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi pushed away the branches of the trees, trying not to get them caught in her hair or uniform as she shoved through.  
  
"Hello?" she called as she went. "Can anyone hear me? Is anyone here?"  
  
She still walked onward, though now she was unable to see the ground or any blood. The many tree branches that whipped her face if she didn't put a bent arm in front of her as she walked on with slightly closed eyes to avoid bark that might have fallen into them.  
  
Suddenly, her foot tangled in a vine, and she was sent flying toward the ground.  
  
She groaned, smacking the ground pretty hard with her head, then waited for her vision to come into focus once more. She blinked, trying to focus, thinking at first that she was just hallucinating at what she saw, but when the trees stopped spinning, she saw that she was not.  
  
The trees were bending in, trying to enclose her so that she couldn't escape, and they were now just over her so that she couldn't sit up.  
  
She screamed, calling out, "Help!" in desperation, even though she knew no one would be there to save her. She would never get out.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
T'Pol gasped, hearing a voice resonate in her head along with screams. But the one thing that made her stop running was the fear she felt. It made her heart race, and her breathing become erratic, forcing her to stop in her tracks. She felt as though the entire world was closing around her, and terrible panic set in. She sunk to her knees on the ground, shaking uncontrollably, then fell to the earth, the screaming still echoing in her mind.  
  
She closed her eyes, unable to fight against this sudden, unexplained attack, and allowed it to overtake her.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Okies, everyone review! ^ - ^ 


	7. Into the Fire

Uhh. so sorry for the delay. I was writing a few stories at once. Not a  
good idea. Anyway..  
  
Yes, there is finally a plot development! I know it took long enough, but.  
I think it's worth the wait. ^ - ^  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Into the Fire  
  
T'Pol continued to shake, the fear disabling her ability to concentrate. She tried to resist the overwhelming terror, but it was useless. She could no longer maintain her composure or state of mind.  
  
"T'Pol!" a voice from her mind shouted unexpectedly, then conveyed in thought that the fear she felt was not hers.  
  
Although they were sudden, these thoughts pushed away the fear, and forced her to focus on the origin of her sudden emotional outburst. She stood up slowly, still shivering slightly but much more controlled, and searched deep in her mind for the answer she looked for. As she looked, the panic still was strong, threatening to rise above her calm demeanor, but she fought against it.  
  
At last, she found her answer. It had been Hoshi's- *Ensign Sato's*- frenzy that had reached her. She was trapped somewhere close to where T'Pol was, and T'Pol could feel her drifting away. She needed to get to the ensign as soon as possible.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi continued to shiver beneath the blanket of enclosing tree branches, which enshrouded her in a cloak of darkness. She felt like she was being strangled, and every time she thought that, the branches seemed to close in even more.  
  
She was just about ready to give up hope, terrified of the whole planet closing in on her, when she heard a voice not very far away from her cry out, "Ensign!" in a just barely unemotional tone, though she could still hear concern in that voice nonetheless.  
  
"T'Pol?" She opened her eyes, turning her head slightly to attempt to peer through the branches, only, when she looked this time, no branches covered her.  
  
T'Pol held out a hand for her to take, looking a bit disheveled herself, and as though she were almost unable to hold herself together anymore.  
  
Hoshi stood with T'Pol's help, then relaxed a bit, knowing she wasn't alone on this planet.  
  
"How did you...? How come...?" So many questions came, but none seemed to be the ideal first.  
  
"You were hallucinating. The branches were not real, only an attempt to deter you from aiding the girl in her escape by utilizing your fears to cause you to choose your own death over your escape."  
  
Hoshi looked extremely confused. "What girl?"  
  
"She has not appeared to you?"  
  
Hoshi shook her head.  
  
T'Pol spent a silent moment in thought. "You must be closest to her."  
  
"But.... I still don't understand. Who?"  
  
T'Pol stopped trying to understand why the girl never spoke to Hoshi, and turned her gaze on her to explain what she *did* know instead. "I believe this girl is a telepath. She has spoken to me on several accounts through thought, yet I have not seen her. She is being pursued by another being like herself, however she does not know this person- she has only referred to this person as 'Him.' I do not fully understand his motivation to want to destroy this girl, though I am certain he is an enemy, not the girl. He believes if he can destroy us... he will find her."  
  
"Why?" Hoshi asked, becoming scared again.  
  
"I am not certain. I only briefly connected with his mind to know what he wants, not his reasoning behind it."  
  
Hoshi's eyes widened. "You connected with him telepathically?"  
  
T'Pol nodded slightly. "I did. His intentions are extremely disturbing, Ensign. Though, if you would like me to share them, I will."  
  
Hoshi nodded reluctantly. "What exactly is going on?"  
  
T'Pol walked slowly with Hoshi, taking her away from the forest, explaining, "It seems in *his* mind, we only have two alternatives to escape: we either help the girl, who will then help us to return to Enterprise... or we die here. I believe at least that much is true, that those are our only two options."  
  
Hoshi didn't exactly like the sound of that. "Well, why hasn't this girl told us how to help her, then? If she knows we're gonna die-!"  
  
"Ensign," T'Pol interrupted. "I believe she doesn't even know how, herself. Don't you believe that if she had known, this man would have been stopped already?"  
  
Hoshi opened her mouth to say something, but then realized T'Pol was right. This girl, whomever she was, was powerless against the person after her. She truly needed their help.  
  
"Until we know the full truth, I don't believe we should come to any conclusions designating her as our enemy. Especially now, while it seems that she is somehow protecting us from being found." She paused, then added, "For the moment."  
  
"But what does that mean, really? He'll be able to find us again, won't he?"  
  
T'Pol was silent another moment in thought. "I believe she may have put aside her original intention to be safe, herself, and now is attempting to aid *us*." Then, in a low voice, she said, "Although, I fail to see our means of escaping if she does not survive."  
  
"What do you mean?" Hoshi asked.  
  
T'Pol's eyes met Hoshi's, but T'Pol said nothing.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Malcolm, again, tossed and turned, but eventually drifted off to sleep, and, again, he found himself aboard Enterprise.  
  
This time, he was not in the armory, but in his quarters. Everything seemed so real: the quiet hum of the warp engine, every Padd how he left it on his computer desk, and even the one he left on his bed was still there. It was how he remembered it the day he found himself on the planet. It was all starting to come back to him.  
  
Suddenly, his comm. beeped. He answered it, just like he remembered he had that day, and listened as Archer informed him, "It seems like every terminal on the ship is malfunctioning. I've got Trip here to see if it's just one of the ship's systems, but he's telling me it seems more like some kind of scrambling wave."  
  
Archer paused, apparently listening to Trip, but Malcolm couldn't really make out what he was saying. He caught something like, "I don't think I can do anything about it. Whoever's doin' this is doin' a pretty good job," but nothing really important as far as information. He just had to wait until the Captain resumed talking to him.  
  
"He thinks someone's trying to tap into all our systems." Another pause. "I'm not sure if this is their way of getting to know us," Archer told him, his voice hinting toward rising anger, "but I'm not about to believe that whoever's doing this is harmless. Malcolm, I want you on the bridge. If we can get tactical systems back, I want us prepared to face an attack."  
  
Even though it was 0330 hours, Malcolm was quickly ready, heading toward the bridge in just a few minutes. He remembered all of this, but it only seemed to come back to him as he witnessed it.  
  
When he arrived on the bridge, Trip was shaking his head, still hovering over Malcolm's station, hoping to see some kind of change.  
  
"We have sensors back," Hoshi announced to the bridge in relief.  
  
"Good," Archer told her. "See if any ships are near, any satellites, any probes, *anything*."  
  
Hoshi keyed quickly on the panel in search of anything that might clue them in as to who or what was the cause of all of it, then, when she came up with nothing, searched for any jamming or disabling frequencies that might be affecting them. Again, nothing. She shook her head, then looked over at T'Pol, who was looking through her viewscreen. She, also, found nothing.  
  
Malcolm turned to Trip. "Can't we just leave? This thing won't be able to do anything if we're not here."  
  
Trip shook his head. "Everything's down. Even if we *had* impulse, we wouldn't really get anywhere. And if we had warp drive... doesn't matter, we don't have a stable warp field. We would get away, but we'd be a bit dead."  
  
Archer sat down in his chair, contemplating what to do. They really couldn't do anything, Malcolm realized, and Archer knew that. "Do we at least have stable life support?" he asked, for what Malcolm figured must have been the fifth time- at *least*.  
  
"Yes," T'Pol stated bluntly. She looked again, then added, "However, it seems as though it was briefly scanned." She paused, allowing Archer to think a little more. "I believe someone *does* want to study this crew."  
  
"This entire *ship* is being 'studied,'" Archer retorted hotly. "I don't like this at all. I don't like not being able to have a say in this." He stood up and walked about the bridge, as he often did when he was distressed.  
  
The entire bridge was tense, unsure of what to do. They were trapped, for the first time without reason or knowledge of who their enemy was.  
  
Malcolm's eyes snapped open, and he was back in the forest on the planet. He wondered why he couldn't remember more than what he saw in that dream, and suddenly, it seemed that far too many questions came to mind all at once.  
  
He looked up at the sky, not quite sure if he was really getting anywhere- not in his memory *or* in his escape. He didn't really know what to do at all. It was almost like being back on the bridge of Enterprise all over again.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Trip sat waiting on the base of that hill for what felt like forever. He had given up completely, the only one left of an entire crew- slaughtered, he figured- with no hope of ever escaping.  
  
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a distinctly British voice called out, "Commander!" making him turn around.  
  
"Malcolm?" he asked, watching as the armory officer jogged down the hill. He had a large grin on, now seeing that he was not alone anymore. "I thought everyone was...." He stopped, starting to lose his voice.  
  
"So did I." He shook his head. "It took what seemed like an *eternity* to get out of there."  
  
"Get out of *where*?" Trip asked, interested, and somewhat concerned.  
  
"I was trapped. When they took the others, I was forced to hide in this enormous forest-"  
  
"'They'?!" Trip interrupted, now beginning to get worked up. "Who's 'they'?! Who'd they take?!"  
  
"I'm not sure.... It was pitch dark when they found us. I wasn't with the others at the time, so I wasn't found, but I *do* know the captain was taken, and so was T'Pol."  
  
Trip gritted his teeth in anger. "Where'd they go?"  
  
"I'll show you, it's not very far from here."  
  
"I bet," he mumbled, remembering the bloodied uniform that he had long since buried; it was the best he could do for his friend, wherever he was.  
  
"Just over that way," Malcolm said, pointing to a spot to the right of where Trip had been heading.  
  
Trip took a step in that direction, then turned around to face Malcolm again. "The Cap'n's dead, Malcolm."  
  
Malcolm's mouth twitched a bit, but he fought against it, and attempted to console Trip. "I'm sorry. I know how good of friends you two were. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to stop them."  
  
Trip nodded silently, looking past Malcolm into nothing.  
  
After what Malcolm decided was long enough, he said quietly, "At least we can try to save T'Pol.... Do whatever we can."  
  
Trip nodded. "I'm glad yer here, Malcolm. At least I know I'm not by myself anymore."  
  
Malcolm agreed. "Same here, Commander."  
  
As Trip walked off ahead, Malcolm's innocent, supportive smile twisted into a crooked, malicious one. "Same here."  
  
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Tell me what you thought everyone! ^ - ^ 


	8. Revelation

Alright, I know this chapter is a bit short, but, oh well. But still, I  
posted quickly, didn't I? ^ - ^ I hope you like it.  
  
Oh, yeah, and guess what? More plot development! I know, I know- lots  
more questions, but one biiiiiiiiig answer, so I think it works. ^ - ^  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Revelation  
  
Trip walked beside Malcolm, his spirits raised slightly now that his friend was with him. He had begun talking with Malcolm about what had happened since he woke up, and, since Malcolm seemed interested, he continued. "I thought I was goin' crazy or somethin'.... I kept seein' this girl-"  
  
"A girl?" asked Malcolm, his eyes lighting up.  
  
"Yeah... I know it sounds impossible, but she appeared right in front of me, Malcolm."  
  
"No, no, it doesn't sound impossible." He paused. "Actually, people like that abducted the Captain and T'Pol."  
  
Trip stared ahead into nothing once again. "Maybe that's why she took me here."  
  
"She took you here?" he asked in shock.  
  
Trip looked up into Malcolm's eyes, and stared hard into them. Just looking quickly, he may have looked excited, even concerned, but what was there, beneath what seemed those things, was surprise and... joy? Satisfaction? But... why?  
  
Trip looked closely. Something seemed wrong. Something that made him feel sick. It wasn't just what he seemed to sense from Malcolm, but it was in his eyes. They were too bright. Malcolm's were closer to gray than blue, but right then... they were bright blue. And they were cold. So detached from emotion- no. He had looked at T'Pol enough to know that even though she showed no emotion, her eyes still sparkled. What was lacking in *his* eyes... was compassion.  
  
Trip backed away, terrified of this... *THING*... that looked like his friend. "You're not Malcolm...."  
  
Malcolm looked at Trip like he was insane. "What're you *talking* about?"  
  
"You're not Malcolm.... What'd you do with him?" he asked, still backing away.  
  
At first, Malcolm tried to calm Trip, but when he saw that Trip was not going to come back, he finally ended his charade.  
  
"Fine, Commander," the impostor said, still speaking like Malcolm, and still looking like Malcolm, but it was obvious he was not him. "You want to know what I've done with him? He's dead. Like the rest of them."  
  
Trip shook his head in denial. "I don't believe you."  
  
He smirked, his eyes narrowing on Trip. "Maybe you should start doing just that. Your armory officer *is* dead, and so is your captain. Both of your best friends. I killed them. Along with your crew."  
  
Trip attempted to control his rage, but it built up inside him, and despite how hard he tried, he could not stop from shaking.  
  
His grin widened. "You have a lot of anger.... That's good. That's very good."  
  
Trip fought even harder to control himself.  
  
"I know everything about you, Trip."  
  
"Don't call me that, you bastard," Trip hissed, seething with anger and hatred.  
  
He let out a small, taunting laugh. "Commander? Is *that* better?"  
  
Trip gritted his teeth, holding back all urges to punch this creature until he was unconscious.  
  
"I know all about you, *Commander*. All your friendships, your relationships, your thoughts, your hopes, your fears.... I know about your crew...." He paused, then said, "And now... I know about the girl."  
  
Trip watched him as he turned to begin to walk away, but then stopped and turned back, wondering something he wanted the answer to. "What gave it away? That I wasn't the Malcolm you knew, I mean." He paused, awaiting a response, but Trip just stared at him, trying his hardest not to explode with anger. "Was it my eyes?" he asked, his eyes seeming to stare into Trip, their blue becoming brighter, as if he were stealing that color from Trip for himself.  
  
Trip felt weaker, somehow, and shook his head to try to pull himself back from whatever brief daze this being had him in.  
  
"You know, some say the eyes are the windows to the soul," he said, using the phrase Trip had been thinking of just then. "Maybe that's how you knew." He took a few steps toward Trip, then told him, "Because unlike your Malcolm... I don't have one."  
  
Trip squeezed his fists so tight they hurt.  
  
"Oh.... I want to thank you for help," he said, and with one last mocking smile, "Malcolm" vanished into a mist, then into nothing at all.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Malcolm finally decided he needed to get out of the forest. He knew he had tried several times, only to find himself deeper inside the endless woods. But he didn't care. He was either going to get out of there or die trying.  
  
There were so many questions on his mind he could barely concentrate. He hated the fact that he knew only partially the events leading up to being stranded on the planet. He hated that memories of things that had happened so long ago were suddenly coming back to haunt him. He hated that he was seeing things that were not there.  
  
Then he remembered the creature that had appeared in front of him that day. Was it real? Was it just a dream? Was he hallucinating?  
  
Suddenly, he felt extremely light-headed, and the world began to sway and spin. He tried to grab out for a tree or a branch, but he could not, and he fell to his knees on the ground where he could only wait for it all to end.  
  
His eyes blurred and everything went out of focus, then shooting pains went through his head. Out of nowhere, he could hear voices, all of them loud and confusing, none of them clear. He held his head, trying to make it all stop, but it didn't. In front of his eyes flashed the bridge of the Enterprise, the armory, his home on Earth, the tunnels under the asylum, the planet, each fighting for control over him.  
  
At last, it all finally stopped, leaving him huddling against a tree with an awful headache, afraid to get up or even *look* up. He cautiously did so, using the tree to steady himself, but when he looked up, finally having enough balance to do that without getting dizzy for a second time, he almost dropped to the ground again.  
  
There, standing in front of him, was his father.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi stared at T'Pol. "What do you mean?" she asked again.  
  
T'Pol said extremely quietly, her voice faltering, "We are connected to her. Telepathically."  
  
"But... what?" It was all too much for Hoshi to comprehend. First, she was simply lost on this planet, but now, there was a man after her and this girl she didn't even know, who, apparently, had learned everything about Hoshi, and probably knew what she was thinking right then.  
  
"That is how I found you. Because we are all connected, I felt your fear. As if the world was closing in around me." She seemed almost reluctant to admit that.  
  
Hoshi realized that must have been scary in itself for T'Pol, who was used to feeling nothing like that.  
  
"But then, the girl spoke to me. She told me where to find you, as well as the others."  
  
"There're other people here?" Just then, Hoshi realized they were actually going somewhere, not just walking away from the forest. They were going to find those people.  
  
"Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed have also been... chosen."  
  
Hoshi had no idea what T'Pol meant. "What do you mean, 'chosen'?"  
  
T'Pol paused, looking for the right words, then answered Hoshi's question. "Commander Tucker, Lieutenant Reed, you, and I have been chosen by this girl I have spoken of to help her. She could have selected anyone aboard, but I assume we must have had some attributes she felt was required."  
  
"T'Pol, you knew *she* took us from Enterprise, and you didn't say anything?" Hoshi asked, getting slightly angry from T'Pol's neglect to tell her the full truth.  
  
"I did not say that, Ensign. I said we have been selected, not taken."  
  
Hoshi was stunned to silence. She at last knew what T'Pol was saying.  
  
"I don't believe we have ever left Enterprise."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Good? Bad? Tell me what you thought. ^ - ^ (I use these faces way too much..) 


	9. Twisting Reality

It's been a while, huh? ^ - ^ Thanks to Jen, I wrote another chapter- in  
two days! That's pretty fast for me. (You may be the only one reading  
this, but hopefully not!)  
  
Okies- a few changes: I changed the rating to PG-13 because this chapter's a little. a whole lot of stuff really. Angst, suicide mentions. just be  
warned, all. Boy, I torment these poor guys, don't I?  
  
Well- enjoy!  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Twisting Reality  
  
"During the most recent occasion in which this girl has spoken with me, as she explained to me where each of you were, she also revealed that we hadn't ever left Enterprise. Rather, we are all telepathically connected in a way that I haven't heard of previously. I find it quite interesting."  
  
Hoshi felt so cold all of a sudden. "Most *recent* occasion"? Still on Enterprise? It was so much simpler when she assumed she had just been lost.  
  
"She is in desperate need of our help, as are we of hers. We are in danger, Ensign. I hope you realize that you must stay aware of the problems this being, I'm sure, will cause us as we attempt to escape." Her eyes darted from place to place with the unspoken nervousness she repressed. She then added in a near-whisper, "Which will most likely increase as we find ourselves nearer to helping her."  
  
Hoshi swallowed out of uneasiness. For something to concern *T'Pol*... it had to be bad. "And you said you briefly connected with the being after her?"  
  
"Yes, I believe I did," she said, almost too coolly in response to what Hoshi had unintentionally repeated.  
  
"So you know how he plans to hurt us."  
  
"I believe I had already said that as well, Ensign."  
  
Hoshi was surprised at T'Pol's sudden iciness, more so at the annoyed glares she gave her.  
  
T'Pol suddenly snapped out of it, taking a step back and shifting her gaze again, avoiding Hoshi's eyes.  
  
"Sub-Commander?"  
  
She at last brought her eyes up to Hoshi's. "I believe we should continue moving," she said, walking again, somewhat quickly. "We cannot lose any more time."  
  
"But, T'Pol-"  
  
"Ensign," T'Pol interrupted, raising her voice slightly, but then recoiling from her outburst, she shakily told her, "I apologize. I have been unable to meditate for several days now."  
  
Hoshi just inclined her head in agreement, as the Sub-Commander herself often did.  
  
"We *should* continue walking now."  
  
They spent a few minutes walking in silence, and so Hoshi was reluctant to ask what she had on her mind, especially since she was worried T'Pol might not react in the best way possible. But she asked anyway, deciding she couldn't spend the entire rest of their time here being uninformed and oblivious to the situation.  
  
"Sub-Commander? ...Do you have any ideas on... how we might be able to help this girl? How to get out of here?- er...." She realized she couldn't get out of anywhere, considering she was still on Enterprise, just... unconscious, or asleep, or something.  
  
"Possibly," she said, being very vague. "I have several ideas, however I'm still unsure whether I'm correct or not, and so I do not plan to place you in any danger by telling you."  
  
Hoshi just watched as T'Pol walked quickly, seeming to become deeply distracted by her thoughts, and Hoshi couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her, and why she insisted on not telling her anything. It scared her a little that she refused to speak out of concern that Hoshi may "be placed in any danger."  
  
As T'Pol continued onward, Hoshi couldn't help but feel as though the Sub-Commander was losing her grip on controlling the emotions she kept locked up inside. She could see it in the way she walked, in the way she stared off in a distant concentration that was becoming gradually harder and harder to break.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
As T'Pol walked alongside the Ensign, she began to feel her head ache and her focus fade in and out. The ground seemed airy and unstable, and she was finding it hard to keep her footing. It was very close to what she felt when Hoshi- Ensign Sato- was trapped under the branches. She couldn't stop from feeling that way, and to make things even worse, she felt as though the barriers she had built up to contain her emotions were crumbling down and there was nothing she could do about it.  
  
She was vulnerable, and she knew why. The "man" after this girl knew she was coming close to finding out how to stop him.  
  
Or maybe it was the girl.... Maybe *she* was doing this. Maybe they were the same being....  
  
No.  
  
She tried to control her thoughts, tried to focus on the logic that proved they were not one and the same. But there was none. There was no reason for her to believe they were not the same being. And that frustrated her. She could not grasp on to any logic when there was none, none proving *anything* either way.  
  
Suddenly, she heard the crack of several twigs from behind her, and she quickly snapped her head around to see who it was.  
  
The look on Hoshi's face conveyed confusion and fear. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Did you hear that?" she asked, turning to look in every direction.  
  
Hoshi looked around along with T'Pol. "Hear what?"  
  
T'Pol stopped looking, realizing that it was just another mind game. She had to be stronger, much stronger than that. "Nothing. It was nothing, I suppose."  
  
She turned and continued walking, Hoshi hesitantly close behind. This creature was not going to get the best of her. She was determined.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
"S-sir..." Malcolm stuttered, regaining his footing as he managed to stand up.  
  
"What are you doing, boy?" his father spat.  
  
Standing up? Being afraid of him? What? "I... I don't understand. I'm sorry."  
  
"You should be!" he shouted harshly, making Malcolm flinch. "Coward! Running from everything that scares you! I thought I taught you better!"  
  
A thought finally occurred to Malcolm after the initial shock of seeing the man he so hated, the man he was terrified of. "You can't be my father. You *can't* be."  
  
The glare he received almost made him think twice about what he said.  
  
"My father is *lightyears* away," he said, trying to reestablish his certainty that the man before him was not, and could never be, his real father.  
  
His "father" advanced slowly toward him until he was nearly looming over him. Malcolm could feel his father's heavy breath and smell his almost as equally pungent after-shave and cologne as he neared him. Everything he did, every smell, every movement, every action seemed his father's.  
  
"Would you *dare* question me, boy?"  
  
Malcolm felt himself trembling, but couldn't stop himself.  
  
His father bent his head and stared into Malcolm's eyes, which didn't break away from his gaze. "If you don't believe me, you should." Malcolm tried to look away, so he pulled him back, yanking up the left sleeve of Malcolm's uniform along with the one of the black shirt underneath, receiving a horrified look as he did so. There on Malcolm's arm was a faint and faded scar that cut across the side of his forearm. "After all, wouldn't only the two of us know where you got that scar?"  
  
Malcolm's eyes twitched to blink back tears that he knew would come, that misted his eyes and blurred the face in front of him. It was true. Only he and his father would know that one night, desperate to escape after a beating worse than usual, Malcolm felt that the only escape he had, the only thing he could do to get away, was to die. It was a terrible night, one that left him with still-burning cuts on his back and a terrible, throbbing pain in his side, along with a black and blue eye and a swollen cheek. There was no escape anymore, nothing that brought a smile to his face, nothing that made living worthwhile, so, depressed and without a hope in the world, he took his father's razor and sat in the bathroom, on the edge of the bathtub, terrified to go through with it.  
  
He pondered over slitting his wrists or his throat, but he couldn't bear to do either. The truth was, he didn't know if he had the courage. He decided he would cut himself more than once, his arms then his wrists, to make it all go faster, but at the last second, as he slashed it across his arm, his father came across the hall, seeing the light from the room. Malcolm jolted as his father passed the bathroom, barely missing his mark as he slit his arm, but missing by just enough. Stuart saw, but left Malcolm to bandage his own arm. Malcolm knew he didn't really care.  
  
He had quickly grabbed a towel to cover his bleeding arm, not wanting the blood to drip onto the floor, which, if it did, would probably yield at least another smack for his carelessness. He even cleaned up the tub after he finished applying the bandage. He dreaded seeing Stuart after that, knowing the incident would never be forgotten. He tried to keep his eyes to the floor when he left the bathroom, but he looked up, his eyes catching his father's, and he told the boy in a low growl, "Think about what you're doing before you do something stupid like that again." Then with one last scowl, Stuart walked back to his bedroom.  
  
Malcolm only left the bathroom that night with a cut on the side of his arm- a deep one and a fairly long one, but not a fatal one, as he'd hoped. That along with reddened eyes from crying and a painful ache inside him that wouldn't go away- not as long as he was still alive and with his father. From that night on, the only thought that kept him alive was that if he died, his father's wrath would shift to either his mother, or to Madeline. He knew he would never forgive himself if that ever happened, and so he never attempted to end his life ever again.  
  
"Stupid," the man with him snarled again, then hastily pulled down the sleeves.  
  
Malcolm swallowed, but his mouth was desert sand dry.  
  
"Always running away from what scares you the most. Always."  
  
Even knowing that this being was not his father, that knowledge was fading quickly. He was there, so what did it matter if he was real or not? He was real enough, and just as heartless.  
  
Suddenly, anger turned his father's face a shade of brick red, and he grabbed hold of Malcolm's arm again, twisting it in a way that caused Malcolm to yelp in pain. He had turned his son in a way that he faced away from him, yet was pointed in a set direction, though Malcolm wasn't sure why.  
  
"Do you hear, that?" Stuart asked, sounding very smug, too sure of himself for Malcolm's liking.  
  
Straining his ears very little, he could now hear the leaves on the bushes rustling, not the ones nearest them, but just a little further behind them.  
  
"You've been running for far too long, boy," he hissed, tightening his grip on the shaking Malcolm.  
  
"Wha-what're you doing?" Malcolm stammered, frightened now.  
  
"You're not running away *this* time," he continued, ignoring Malcolm.  
  
The rustling grew more violent, the branches parting and shaking and bending as whatever it was passed through them. A deep, throaty growl came from the thing, coming closer and closer toward them.  
  
Malcolm tried to pull away, but the man had a firm grip, much stronger than his father's, and would not let him go. "Please!" he pleaded, fighting against the bone-crushing grip. "Are you *insane*?! Let go!"  
  
"It smells blood," he whispered in a sickeningly calm and hopeful tone that made chills run up Malcolm's spine.  
  
"Y-you're crazy...." Now Malcolm was sure more than anything he had ever been sure of in his entire life that this man was far too insane to be his real father. And so again Malcolm tried to free himself, but to no avail.  
  
"You've been running away for too long," he told him, his hot breath on the back of Malcolm's neck. "You can't run away forever. You have to face it all *some* day...."  
  
Malcolm watched as, from the brush, he began to see the creature after him. A small glimpse was all he needed to decide it was all over, and he sunk to the ground. "God..." he breathed out in a hushed panic. He bent his head, afraid to look, but still awaiting his death, ready to take it, ready to let it take him.  
  
"Too afraid to face life, too afraid to face death," his father's voice scoffed as he still held Malcolm's arms behind his back. "Should be ashamed."  
  
Malcolm closed his eyes, willing to die. He should have died years ago, he decided, that late night he wanted to cut his arms and wrists. It was his time now, since he hadn't had the courage when he was only sixteen years old to finish with his father looking on. Only now, some being impersonating him was doing the same thing: looking on, that was. It just didn't seem to matter anymore, at least not as much now, knowing there wasn't a person alive that wanted him to live. Knowing at least two other people wanted him dead was enough, three counting the creature that was coming closer. Four counting himself.  
  
He stayed hunched over on the ground for a long while, waiting, but nothing happened. Then, he heard a voice. It was not his father's- or rather, the voice of the being that masqueraded as him- it was a woman's voice, one that he knew well, and one that he was overjoyed to hear. How or why she was there didn't matter, just that she was there.  
  
"Hoshi..." he whispered to himself quietly, lifting his head only enough so he was looking straight down at the ground.  
  
"Lieutenant!" Hoshi shouted in concern, seeing him hunched over on the ground, and running over. She put her hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"  
  
"My... father...." He shook his head, still not looking up at her. He laughed dryly. "You wouldn't believe me if I explained it."  
  
He then looked up and saw her, her face very solemn and serious. "Trust me, I'd believe you."  
  
He looked around her to T'Pol. On her brow were beads of sweat, and she looked unkempt. In her eyes was a wildness, a strange lack of diplomacy and control that she had most always managed to keep with her. Even the way she held herself seemed different... irregular.  
  
Hoshi obviously saw him looking, because she told him, "She says she hasn't meditated in a long time. Days. But I don't know...." She turned to look at T'Pol, who seemed to almost not recognize them suddenly, and was cowering away. "I don't think that's what's going on."  
  
"Please..." T'Pol pleaded, taking on a hint of emotion in her voice, and backing away. "Keep them back...."  
  
"T'Pol?" Hoshi asked, more than a bit scared at the Vulcan's show of emotion, and more so that it was a fear of something that wasn't there. Or, even more terrifying, something they couldn't see.  
  
She backed herself up against a tree. "No...."  
  
"What's wrong, Sub-Commander?" Hoshi asked, now making her voice stronger in hopes that T'Pol would take comfort in the sound of her voice, maybe even recognize them.  
  
She began to speak in Vulcan, nearly shouting at points, to the two of them. Actually, Malcolm thought, it was probably only to Hoshi, considering she barely acknowledged his presence.  
  
Hoshi turned to him in horror. "She says there're demons here."  
  
Malcolm gave her a confused look. "Does she even *believe* in such things?"  
  
Hoshi shook her head. "That's not what I meant," she explained quickly. "Evil beings, demons- same thing. I... I don't know whether or not to believe her." She struggled to formulate words that would come. "I don't know..." she finally said, frustrated.  
  
They both watched her awhile, letting her ramble on in Vulcan. It was terrifying to Malcolm, but Hoshi followed what she was saying, and translated.  
  
"They have you... they're... going to kill...." Her eyes widened. "Trip. She says they're going to go after Trip."  
  
"Are you sure you're going to believe her while she's like this?"  
  
Hoshi nodded. "She looked like she recognized me for a second when she said that."  
  
Malcolm stood up and waited there, watching her. It was true. It did look for a second like she had finally placed Hoshi's face with her voice, and for that second knew who she was. She had paused then, telling her something, but then slipping back into whatever awful hallucinations she was having, and becoming wild again.  
  
"Malcolm, I don't have time to explain how she could know this, but just believe me!" Hoshi demanded.  
  
He was surprised at first at how she had said that, but then nodded. "Where is he?"  
  
She pointed in a direction over the horizon, and he ran off, leaving Hoshi to calm T'Pol. He really hoped she would be okay. He really hoped they *all* would be okay.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Trip sat on the ground, knowing that he had really done it this time. He had said *something* that he knew would lead to certain death for this girl. She had depended on him to help her, but what had he done? He had been too trusting yet again, to think that it was truly Malcolm that came to him.  
  
"Ya should'a just killed me," he muttered outloud, hoping the being would come back. "Then again..." he said, then, taking on a sarcastic undertone, finished, "what's betrayal without punishment, right? Might as well drive me insane before ya do me the favor a' killin' me."  
  
He shook his head, the thoughts inside building up until he wanted to explode. "Why can'tcha just...?" He didn't really know what to say after that. Let me go? Kill me? What did he want anymore?  
  
"Trip!"  
  
He turned around. That voice again. That. evil. *thing*.. He stood up and watched Malcolm jog toward him, limping and holding the stitch in his side.  
  
He gave Malcolm an icy glare. "Back again," he mumbled angrily.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
So. Yeah. Review! Liked it, hated it? Tell me what you thought. I love reviews. ^ - ^ 


	10. Among the Ashes

Thanks to school, there's going to be a lot of delay, even more than there has been already. I blame it all on the wonderful homework that comes with honors courses. Umm, so. sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. sorry.  
  
Okay, I know it has upset some people that Stuart Reed and Malcolm have the relationship (or lack there of) that they do in this story. I think I need to say that I don't believe Stuart was an abusive father, one whom Malcolm  
feared so much that suicide was the only escape he could think of. I actually believe he was just a strict father, and maybe a little peeved off that Malcolm chose to abandon family tradition by joining Starfleet, but not abusive. And if there IS any dislike for his father (and vice versa),  
which I believe there is, like in ANY relationship, it isn't for that reason. But for the purposes in this story, in which each of them needs a fear so strong and so terrifying to them, that even knowing (as it was in  
Malcolm's case) that their fear could not possibly surface so far from  
Earth, they would still be petrified to face it.  
  
I hope that cleared things up. And now on to chapter 9.  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Among the Ashes  
  
"*Again*?" Malcolm asked breathlessly as he limped over to Trip, his side aching. "What do you mean, 'Back *again*'?"  
  
His eyes narrowed. "Don'tcha think you've done enough?" he hissed.  
  
"I... I've never..." he began, really unsure of what he was going to say when he had no idea what he was being accused of in the first place. "I really don't know..."  
  
"Shut up!" he interrupted, causing Malcolm to flinch. "Just shut the hell up!" Malcolm backed off a little. "What do you want now?! You already *have* the girl! You already tricked me! You already killed everyone on Enterprise! If you think I'm gonna help you any more, you might as well leave now, 'cause the only thing left fer you t' do is kill me!"  
  
"You don't understand..." he started, anger and sadness constricting his throat.  
  
"What isn't there t' understand?!" He got in Malcolm's face, the Lieutenant trying to find any scrap of courage to keep fighting to pull his friend up from drowning in whatever darkness he'd been pushed into. "You murderer," he snarled, "you...."  
  
But he stopped. He took a good look at Malcolm, staring hard into his eyes until the lieutenant became extremely uncomfortable. "Malcolm?" he muttered softly, seeing the familiar sparkle of life in his cobalt blue eyes, and beginning to trust him. He backed off slightly, but he could feel himself shaking, losing his composure and his strength to continue.  
  
He nodded slowly. "It's me, Trip."  
  
He started to give in to that trust, but then pulled back from it. It could all just be an illusion. Just another illusion.... He was truly in Hell. He sat down on the ground, shaking his head in disbelief. "No. No.... Ya *can't* be Malcolm. Malcolm's dead...."  
  
Malcolm glared at him. "I don't know where you got that idea, but I can assure you- I am very alive."  
  
"Sure, *you* are. But *Malcolm*...." He started to rock back and forth a little, his arms folded and hugging his knees to his chest.  
  
"Trip...." Malcolm murmured, closing the gap between him and his friend.  
  
"No!" he shouted. "Don't come near me!"  
  
Malcolm didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could say or do that would change Trip's mind. He had obviously been tricked, tricked worse than *he* had been, and was now void of any grip on the real world or his own sanity.  
  
Trip then began to laugh in a quiet, strange, sinister way that chilled Malcolm. "Y'know.... I really didn't know who you were gonna be this time.... But comin' back as Malcolm again...." He shook his head, twitching slightly. "That was real smart. But *I'm* not fallin' for it."  
  
"Trip-"  
  
"Stop callin' me that!" he yelled out angrily. "I already told'ja, I'm not gonna believe you, so leave me the hell alone!"  
  
Malcolm watched Trip carefully, waiting for the rage to leave him, but it didn't. The fear and the anger wouldn't fade, but he had to help his friend. He knew he was failing, and so tried a different approach. "T'Pol's sick."  
  
He looked concerned, but turned away, unwilling to give in.  
  
"She can't seem to grasp reality anymore."  
  
Trip turned away further.  
  
"She doesn't even recognize me."  
  
Malcolm saw Trip's eyes dart around in front of him as he battled with his thoughts, but he still didn't move.  
  
"We need to get out of here!" he finally said, his voice forceful and determined. "*None* of us can take much more of this!"  
  
Trip didn't turn around, didn't even acknowledge what Malcolm said, which frustrated him immensely. He had had enough of trying to reason with Trip, especially now that he wouldn't even listen.  
  
Malcolm walked over to Trip, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders and forcing him to look into his eyes. "Damn you, Trip!" he shouted, infuriated. "I don't care *what* you've seen, we've all seen *something*! We've all been manipulated, we've all been terrified! But you can't always just turn away from what scares you!"  
  
Suddenly, Malcolm stopped in horror. He looked down into Trip's panic-stricken eyes, and saw himself in his place- as a boy no older than ten years of age. But what scared him most was that in his own place... he envisioned his father.  
  
He released his grip on Trip's shoulders, and pulled away, walking backwards toward where he came from.  
  
"I can't believe I just said that..." he murmured. He looked back at Trip, still on the ground, watching him closely.  
  
".Why?" he asked in a hushed voice that Malcolm could hardly hear.  
  
"My father... he always told me that." He paused. "In fact, that was one of the few pieces of advice he had for me. He hardly ever said anything much to me, so...." His voice faded out, and he had nothing more to say.  
  
Just then he realized his opportunity to convince Trip of what he knew. "I saw my father here. He felt real to me, even though I knew he wasn't," he explained, his voice cracking a bit. "I'm sure the Malcolm you saw was the same."  
  
"Why do you keep doin' this?" he asked, beginning to distrust Malcolm again.  
  
"Because I want us to get out of here," he insisted, walking over to Trip and sitting next to him. Trip watched him cautiously out of the corner of his eye, but did not move away. "I won't leave you behind. I won't go back without you."  
  
Trip's mind flashed back to when the two of them were floating in Shuttlepod One, waiting for Enterprise to retrieve them, a seemingly impossible hope. With only two days' air left, they assumed they were doomed to death, and so, his mind set on ensuring that one of them made it back- that one being Malcolm- Trip had decided to sacrifice himself. His place in the airlock would leave Malcolm with the oxygen he would have used. But Malcolm had told him that he would rather die with him than live with the oxygen he would have given up.  
  
His eyes found the Lieutenant once again.  
  
"So it's really *you*, Malcolm...."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi watched as T'Pol worsened, not really sure what to do for her. Her eyes seemed so distant and blind; she didn't even know Hoshi was there anymore. Compared to the sub-commander Hoshi knew... this T'Pol looked wild, like an untamed animal. Hoshi had to continue to monitor her so she would stay on the ground, as she was now often trying to get up and escape- but when Hoshi tried to keep her seated, her hands barely gripping T'Pol's shoulders to not provoke her to any more violence, the Vulcan slashed at the air to try to pull her off, her eyes unseeing, unfocused on the ensign. She probably thought, in her crazed state, that creatures were trying to keep her there, and she was terrified.  
  
She stayed huddled on the ground, curled up, her eyes darting madly at demons that weren't there, muttering in Vulcan to the nonexistent ghosts that she lashed out at. But then again, Hoshi thought, in this place, who knows whether they're real or not. The being that invaded their minds was real- not exactly tangible or visible when it wanted to be, but very real.  
  
"Nothing could be more true," came a voice from behind her, making Hoshi quickly turn around. "Do not doubt what you know, Ensign Sato."  
  
She stared open-mouthed at the ghostly figure before her, as hollow as her voice, and her color as faded and graying as in an old photo. "Who...?"  
  
"There isn't time," she said hurriedly. "I am afraid that with T'Pol in this state, you will need all the strength you can retain. He will take it from you, and there is little time left if you are to do it alone."  
  
"Do *what* alone?" Her mind reeled with the mass of strange information she had just been informed of.  
  
"You will be afraid, Hoshi, but please, stay strong," she encouraged, ignoring the question. "Go to him. There is no other choice now. I cannot-"  
  
She broke off, her apparition flickering. "He is very near," she warned. "He has T'Pol, and he will soon have you all if you don't.." She did not finish, her eyes growing wide with terror as she focused on something Hoshi knew to be horrible. "He knows," she gasped.  
  
She turned her eyes to Hoshi. "Run."  
  
Hoshi trembled, knowing that the chase had just begun, and that she was more alone in this than she ever imagined before. She turned to T'Pol, attempting to take her off the ground and get her as far away as possible, but T'Pol resisted.  
  
"Leave her!" the girl demanded. "Run!" Then she faded into nothing.  
  
She took one last look at T'Pol, who was almost completely unaware of the situation, though a look of fear had crossed over her face unlike any Hoshi had previously seen. She felt extremely guilty for deserting her, but T'Pol was already gone, held captive in whatever hallucinations, whatever world this creature had her in. She felt awful, but she needed to escape, and so she ran. She ran faster than she had ever thought she could. And as she retreated, her mind raced- seemed almost to outrun her in her escape.  
  
She couldn't help but wonder then how she could ever overtake her own mind. That was more or less what she was being asked to do, considering that the being she was trying to escape was connected to her thoughts. And where could she run to if the entire world was all just an illusion? Where could she go when she was never moving from her place on Enterprise? How could she fight something that wasn't there at all?  
  
She was nearing the hills, but nowhere near Trip or Malcolm, and T'Pol was far beyond able to help her, needing help herself. She looked back at where T'Pol still was, clawing at invisible forces that bound her to her delusion.  
  
She spun back around and screamed, yellow eyes staring back at her.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Muahahahaha.. Okay, that was strange. But you get the point.  
  
I'm nearing the conclusion to "Open Your Eyes.," but when you'll actually *see* it is iffy. For now, I work. And I say STUPID SCHOOL because, well,  
yeah. I was actually almost finished with this chapter at the end of August, so what does *that* tell you? Stupid people that tell us "students  
only get about an hour of homework a night.." Oh yeah? Come to *my*  
school, you idiots.  
  
So, uh, on that note. review please! I've been deprived for reasons  
already discussed and complained about. 


	11. Face to Face With the Devil

Well, thank you again, Jen. Notice how I don't actually write until someone- you- prompts me to? Well, I completely forgot what I *had* written, and it turned out to not be the awful situation I thought it was. Yay!  
  
This *was* going to be two chapters, but then I realized that there was no point to that. So guess what? You guys now are going to read the final chapter to "Open Your Eyes"- one that I think you'll all like. Read and  
review please. ^ _ - v  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Face to Face With the Devil  
  
"Hoshi," the man said, his skin sickly pale against such color behind him, and his hair soot black, death black, endless darkness black. His human impersonation would have been accurate if it weren't for his corpselike appearance and his yellow eyes, a putrid yellow that did not shine life but seemed instead to draw it from whatever surrounded him.  
  
She was so mesmerized by those eyes that she was unable to move, unable to comprehend that his hand was wrapped tightly around her throat.  
  
"You are foolish to think you can save yourselves," he told her. "You humans have given all that you are worth to me. I no longer need you- Heiin is far too weak to resist me any longer."  
  
Hoshi could not move. She could feel the coldness flowing through her blood like ice, his eyes staring into hers, stealing her life from her, and she could only stare back into them as the darkness crept in around her body.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Whirling images, unclear and gray, whipped around T'Pol, dizzying her as they spun. Her eyes could not focus, but closed or open, they stayed seeing of this nightmare. She felt around behind her for the tree on which she leaned against, and managed to pull herself up, the colors still tipping as they spun, causing her to weakly fall into the tree, her arms barely grasping it as they hung nearly limp at her sides.  
  
There was no longer anyone or anything there to restrain her, as there was before, but she still clutched to the safety of the tree. No matter how much she wanted to get away, she would make it no more than a meter, she knew, without taking a fall.  
  
"Please..." she pleaded, her voice barely a noise at all, "stop...."  
  
She knew that there was nothing that could be done, nothing that would save her now. She stood a moment longer, but feeling the air become too thin to breathe, her knees buckled beneath her.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
"Is that all ya know?" Trip asked Malcolm, almost unable to fathom what it all might mean, not to mention *accept* it all for the truth.  
  
Malcolm nodded. "Everything else... I just can't remember. It's too vague in my memory."  
  
"But *why*? That's what I wanna kno-"  
  
Trip stopped suddenly, gripping his head as a throbbing headache overpowered him.  
  
"Commander?" he could hear Malcolm ask, but it was as though he were underwater. Malcolm asked again, but his voice sounded hollow and was so horribly painful to hear, he couldn't take it.  
  
He knew he was shouting, he knew he was trying to tell Malcolm to help him, but he could hear nothing. His head pounded as light and emotions were being forced into his mind, all of it a tumultuous cacophony until it all became clear, and even then it was still too much for him.  
  
Not much was visible, nothing more than light, but there was pain. His mind felt invaded as the strength of a life that was not his own was being drained, and he felt like he was drowning. His mind screamed, trying to resist the impending death creeping up on him, when a sudden ear- piercing screeching noise shot through the darkness and the light and cut through him like knives. He pulled away from the pain, but the screeching continued. He could feel the other entity that had caused him pain was crippled, unable to grasp him again, but coming close. He approached the noise, not quite understanding what it was, but it had saved him. Fighting through the immense agony, he managed to get as close as he could, and found that he could hear specific thoughts.  
  
//I hate being on the graveyard shift....//  
  
//Not another blown relay- Jennings, do your *job* for once!//  
  
Who *were* these people? What are they doing? ...Humans. I... don't know if they can hear me....  
  
"Commander?! Please tell me if you can hear me!"  
  
Trip looked up at the blurring face of Malcolm Reed, trying to get him to come into focus. "What the... hell was that?" he managed, every ounce of light burning his eyes. It was only then that he realized he was on the ground.  
  
"...You looked like you were having a seizure...."  
  
He tried to sit up but the world spun- even lying flat on the ground, and only managed to actually sit with Malcolm's help. "I couldn't tell ya.... But it felt like someone was rippin' apart my brain."  
  
"We have to get out of here," he said, beginning to panic. "Or this whole place is going to kill us."  
  
The two hurried to try to get back to T'Pol, but their legs felt weighted down, and they both found themselves collapsed within seconds, unconscious.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi could feel everything being taken away, her emotions, her memories, her awareness. It was all nothing. She could see the world flicker around her, the bridge of Enterprise fading in instead, then fading out. She was completely and devastatingly alone, the eyes of her killer staring into her and tearing her mind apart.  
  
She tried to turn her eyes, gathering all her strength in her attempt, but the thing bound her tighter, staring deeper into them.  
  
"Your efforts are in vain, Ensign Sato," he stated. "Your crewmates have supplied me with strength- enough strength to force Heiin to me. Enough strength to have no more use for you all."  
  
//Heiin.... He keeps mentioning that name.... Heiin must be the girl.//  
  
She writhed beneath his grasp, trying still to get away. She wasn't about to give up yet.  
  
The thing laughed cruelly. "Ensign, when is it you are going to realize that here... you are nothing? Your actions are under my control, your thoughts are influenced by what I *tell* you to think. You have about as much control over your own self here as a caged animal." A smug smile crept over his decaying looks. "You don't *exist* here. Nothing does. Nothing is real. Except for your mind."  
  
As his eyes seemed to burn her from inside, she hung limp at his mercy. She could struggle still, but what would be the use? As he said, she wasn't real here- she could hit him and never touch him at all.  
  
Then it hit her.  
  
Nothing was real.  
  
It was all an illusion, even this. His taking her life was no more real than his appearance. He had deceived her into thinking it was all real, but now it all made sense, and none of his tricks were going to fool her any more.  
  
Hoshi allowed a smug smirk onto her lips, and stared right back down at him.  
  
His face slowly fell into a look of terror, realizing that he no longer had control over her. But he fought to regain that control. "No!" he shouted. "You cannot fight me.... Your demise is inevitable...."  
  
She just shook her head, unsure of what to do. Sure, he couldn't hurt *her* anymore, but who else? There were three other crippled humans he could still hurt, and what then? Though she knew it was all an illusion, it was not *her* illusion to take advantage of. She could not just appear to one and then the other like *he* could. ...Could she?  
  
But instead of disappearing to attack another of them, as she thought, the infuriated being vanished, taking the illusion with him.  
  
For a second, everything went completely black, and no sound or light existed in whatever nowhere she found herself in. She was nothing, falling into and in with the rest of it, and fear surfaced in her.  
  
But as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, and she was standing on a hillside with the rest of her crewmates, all of them looking just as confused as she. T'Pol at last looked herself, and the others- though on edge- were much the same as she last saw them on Enterprise.  
  
"What the hell just happened?" Trip muttered, looking around at all of them.  
  
"Neir has left to recover," came a voice, and all of them looked up to see the girl- her golden hair and green eyes as bright as ever. T'Pol was right. Hoshi *was* closest to her. The other being had given up when he realized he couldn't kill Hoshi. At least. he had given up for the time.  
  
"Heiin," Hoshi said mildly, receiving a slight nod from her.  
  
"Thank you, Ensign. I was sure you would overcome his disillusions to realize that neither you nor he could harm each other in a false world where neither existed beyond your thoughts."  
  
"If you were so damn sure she'd be able t' do this-"  
  
"Then why didn't I explain to her what he was doing?" Heiin interrupted, finishing Trip's sentence.  
  
He was silent.  
  
"In the time it takes for my mind to connect with one of you, he would already find you, would already scan your mind, and would know just how to bring you to your death." She took a moment of pause. "I barely had time to appear to Hoshi and begin telling her what she would face before he realized that he was chasing the wrong people. He assumed it was T'Pol that I had stayed near- she having the strongest, most disciplined mind, and he believed that I chose her to protect me."  
  
She shook her head. "He soon realized that we were not mutually protecting one another, as her mind was easily scanned. What he did *not* prepare for was my contact with her and her eventual understanding of how to overcome him."  
  
"You knew, T'Pol?" Malcolm asked her, somewhat distressed that she never shared that information with any of them.  
  
"I had made several hypotheses, Lieutenant, and though one surmised that the Ensign could withstand any and all of his encounters merely because it was impossible for this being to kill through the power of suggestion if she disbelieved in it... it was nothing more than a hypothesis. It went unsupported by the events thus far."  
  
Malcolm was a bit angered that the Vulcan refused to explain her findings only because it was "unsupported"- never taking into account that up until now, everyone had still believed it was all real, not just manipulation and suggestion.  
  
"I had also believed that, since this being had invaded our minds, if I had explained to Ensign Sato each of my speculations, a few of which contradicted one another, the being would find that she knew as well and disable her. I knew one of these conjectures was correct, as I was being crippled, so I was not about to put her in danger when any one of my solutions that she chose to believe could be wrong. I would be leaving her vulnerable to the being, and I did not wish to do so."  
  
"But Neir had *not* known of Hoshi, not well," Heiin told them. "He was only able to scan her briefly as he scanned you all when I had first connected with your minds. He only knew of her claustrophobia- but had only ever indirectly tried to hurt her."  
  
She turned to Hoshi. "If you recall, Hoshi, you were led into the woods by a trail of blood- human blood- that you felt the need to follow. That was his only way to trap you, through a weak trap with an even weaker mental pull, so to speak. He was unable to fully grasp your presence until I appeared to you and made it clear to him where I was and whom I was connected with."  
  
They were all silent, taking in all of the information. It all seemed so surreal. And in a way, ironically, it was.  
  
Finally Malcolm spoke up. "Heiin.... Do you know why Neir was after you?"  
  
She paused a moment, then nodded once. "I know now. It is very complicated to explain, but... in short, he wishes my position for himself. It is one that I knew would earn me both like and dislike- because of envy- but I was prepared for it. ...Or so I thought."  
  
Trip wondered then, "Where *is* Neir? He can't be dead, can 'e?"  
  
Heiin shook her head sadly. "You will need to be back on Enterprise to succeed in that."  
  
Hoshi eyed her curiously. She looked so gloomy for something that should have been celebrated. "...Heiin...?"  
  
"There is no other way," she told them with a sad smile.  
  
"I'm afraid I don't understand," T'Pol told her.  
  
"I know," she said simply. She turned to Hoshi. "But please, trust me, Hoshi. I must ask you to send out a hail on one of the high-band frequencies- any one will do. But please do it. I know he is gathering strength and he needs to be obliterated."  
  
At hearing that, Trip remembered sitting with Malcolm when a sudden memory arose in his mind. He could remember the feeling of being torn apart that came with a loud noise- a hail from Enterprise. It had to be.  
  
"No, no, you can't," Trip insisted. He turned to Heiin. "This whole time, all you wanted was t' get away from him, t' live! Yer just gonna accept that it's alright now t' die?!"  
  
The others looked in fear and sorrow at her, horrified that she so readily approached death. But Heiin did not falter in her determination.  
  
Heiin stared off into nothing and said quietly with the same sad smile on her face, "I wanted.... I wanted Neir to fail in taking my place. With Neir as mediator, he would destroy everything we have created. He would be corrupt, and give in to those we have resisted for so long...."  
  
Though everyone stared at her, wondering just whom she was talking about, she said nothing more about them. They all supposed it was far too dangerous to share.  
  
"I only wanted to succeed in stopping Neir," she explained. "If this is how I must do that... then I must."  
  
No one knew what to say. She was ready to face her death, just as long as she knew Neir was stopped.  
  
"Go now," she told them. "It is up to you now."  
  
She closed her eyes and they all could feel the darkness returning.  
  
As they drifted deeper and deeper into the endless night, they all began to recall the events leading up to being "taken" to the planet, and realized quickly that it was Heiin who was showing them.  
  
{{Archer could feel the room grow tense. Was it an enemy or just a curious explorer? An enemy, he decided. An explorer would show himself.  
  
"Captain..." he heard Malcolm say, sounding very light-headed.  
  
He snapped his head around, only to find his armory officer on the floor by his console. He would have assumed it to be a fainting spell caused by lack of sleep- considering he had not only woken the lieutenant up in the middle of the night but also because everyone onboard knew of Malcolm's work ethic and tendency to go without sleep- however, right beside him was Trip. And the odds of two of his officers passing out at the same time were slim.  
  
"Hoshi, get Dr. Phlox," he commanded while taking Malcolm's pulse, now becoming extremely worried.  
  
When he received no answer from her, but instead heard the voice of a concerned Travis, he turned to see Hoshi slumped over on her console, and T'Pol hanging limply in her chair.}}  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Dr. Phlox loomed over Trip for the third time as he went back and forth from the four unconscious officers, his scanner out and checking for any sign of their awakening. As vital signs began their rise, signaling the returning of consciousness, he declared, "Captain, he's waking up."  
  
Trip sat up, wobbling slightly while the room proceeded to spin.  
  
"Are you alright?" Archer asked.  
  
Malcolm sat up then, and while their attention was on the armory officer, Trip began to stand.  
  
He stood up shakily, not paying any attention to the doctor's orders to stay seated, and fumbled to Hoshi's console. The buttons he was already unsure of how to use were blurring together, but coming into gradual focus.  
  
Archer tried to get him to sit down, but he barely finished saying "What the hell do you think you're doing?" before T'Pol had stopped him.  
  
"T'Pol-!"  
  
"Captain, we must do this. I ask you to trust me."  
  
Archer looked at all of them, and then at T'Pol. She, of anyone, would not disobey direct orders, and *certainly* would not allow anyone to go about doing something as seemingly ridiculous as this. He neither nodded nor ordered them to stop, he just allowed it to continue.  
  
Hoshi, who had also woken up, shakily and sadly keyed in what she needed to, and let her finger hover over the button to complete sending out the only hail she knew she would ever feel regret sending out. She wondered if she had really done all that she could, and if this was the only way.  
  
She looked up at Trip, who nodded sorrowfully, urging her to be strong enough to go through with it. His eyes were just as sad as hers, but they all knew it had to be done.  
  
She took one last look at the button, and her heart sunk. "I'm sorry," she murmured quietly, then pressed the button.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Heiin could feel Neir's strength returning, and hoped that the crew would know she was ready. As long as Neir would die with her. She could feel his presence inching up on her, ready with his invisible claws to tear her life from her. She could hear the echo of his arrogant laugh resonate through her mind.  
  
But then she heard a sound. An excruciating, burning, wonderful sound.  
  
She could feel Neir shrink away from her, caught in the torturous noise. She could feel him, in his weakened state, unable to defend himself against it. The electromagnetic waves were disrupting him, for it was all he was. She watched as she could sense him fading, fading, until he was torn into nothing. Heiin at last knew Neir was gone- they were safe. It was over.  
  
A bittersweet happiness came to her. Oh, it truly was a wonderful sound.  
  
As she sensed Neir's presence disappear completely, she could feel the agonizing noise tear her apart as well. But she needn't scream- it was screaming *for* her. Why cry? She had won. But pain came to her quickly, found its way past her joy. She would soon be lost, she knew, but her life was worth what she had accomplished. A thousand knives cut into her, a thousand rays of light shot through her, a thousand memories she so loved exploded from her. With her last scrap of energy, she managed to give the humans the only thing she knew how, for nothing more would express it.  
  
She took in contentedly the sweet sound of her demise, at last at peace, for she was now forever a part of the universe.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Hoshi, T'Pol, Trip, and Malcolm looked from one to the other, not quite sure what to do. Had they really done anything? Was it really over?  
  
Suddenly, there was a beeping from Hoshi's panel. Everyone eyed each other, unsure of what to make of it.  
  
Hoshi was suddenly not so sure that they had done anything except for hail a ship nearby. A confusion of joy and anguish filled her heart. But she still needed to do her job, despite what had happened. "Someone's hailing us, sir," she told Archer, her voice laced with the sadness that she refused to show as tears.  
  
"Where's it coming from?" he asked quietly, somewhat respecting and somewhat fearing her and the others.  
  
She swallowed back tears, and looked closely at the description. That didn't make sense.... She blinked a few times, confused at what she saw, and said, "Sir... it's not coming from anywhere."  
  
There was an eerie silence on the bridge as Hoshi opened a channel for the sender. Rather than a voice, a typed message appeared on her console. Hoshi's face softened from the melancholy look it once held as she read the simple, two word message.  
  
Archer waited expectantly for her to explain, and asked, "What does it say, Hoshi?"  
  
She looked up at everyone on the bridge, all eyes focused on her. Everyone was waiting, wondering what could possibly be going on, but she knew. She knew only she and three others would ever know the full meaning, but they all still sat in anticipation, as though they were going to understand. They knew nothing of the planet, or the girl, or anything, but she, T'Pol, Trip, and Malcolm shared that experience, and knew the depth of the transmitted words she then spoke. "Thank you."  
  
Fin  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
*sniffle*.. Well, it's sad to let go of a story- especially considering that this is the first story I've ever finished (okay, no comments), and  
I've written way to many to be saying that.  
  
I hope you all liked the story. Have a Happy Holiday and a wonderful 2004. 


End file.
